Gucci Shakes Up the Fashion Industry, Starts Treating Men and Women the Same

Is Runway Equality Here?

A major fashion week shake-up is in the works. Following the lead of brands like Burberry, Tom Ford and Vetements, Gucci has announced that it will adopt the mixed-gender fashion show model starting in 2017.

That’s right, men and women will walk the same runway in the coming season. For Gucci, the decision to combine shows is not one of creativity, but practicality.

At The New York Times International Luxury conference, which took place on Tuesday, May 5, in Versailles, France, Gucci’s chief executive, Marco Bizarre, explained, “Moving to one show each season will significantly help to simplify many aspects of our business. Maintaining two separate, disconnected calendars has been a result of tradition rather than practicality.”

Brands typically are spread thin throughout the year preparing for menswear shows and wholesale deals in January and July, then moving on to womenswear in September/October and February/March.

The change will hopefully not only ease the minds of designers, but also those of consumers.

While Gucci is taking steps to simplify its show format, the luxury Italian brand will not be taking the big leap towards changing its entire show schedule.

Holiday Gifting

Designers like Tommy Hilfiger, Tom Ford, Burberry, and Rebecca Minkoff have already adopted the see-now, buy-now mantra, which will alter the brands’ show schedules in order to make runway clothing available to the customer almost immediately.

Typically, consumers must wait six months for the clothes to become available, as designers show collections a full season in advance. Case in point: Tom Ford decided against showing his collection at NYFW in February in order to synch the fashion season with the actual calendar season.

Vogue editor in chief Anna Winter has discussed the topic. “The fashion schedule hasn’t moved in a long time, and the world has. We have to move with it,” she said.